"Im Wagen vor mir" (''In the car in front of me'') is a humorous song originally performed as a duet by

Henry Valentino Hans Blum (born 23 May 1928), also known as Henry Valentino, is a German singer-songwriter known for his distinctive musical style, which has been the inspiration of a generation of German musicians. His recordings include the hit single "Im Wa ...

(whose real name is Hans Blum) and Uschi (later replaced with Daffi Cramer). In the song, Valentino is driving on the

autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

, in the middle of a long trip, and day-dreaming about the woman in the car ahead of him—he wonders what she is like and what it would be like to know her. Meanwhile, the woman becomes increasingly worried about the man in the car behind her, wondering if he might be a policeman or a stalker. The humor arises from the fact that Valentino's character is in a very good mood, day-dreaming and listening to music, with no thought that he might be doing anything wrong, while the woman finally becomes so angry and upset that she exits the freeway before she wants to in order to get him to stop following her. In the original version, Valentino sings in a gravelly-voiced style similar to that of

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

. The song was only a minor hit when it was released in 1977, but its popularity has increased in the years since then, and it has been covered or parodied by numerous other artists.

Die Roten Rosen cover

The song was covered by

Die Toten Hosen Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. History The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephe ...

("The Dead Pants", a German punk rock group) for the 1987

cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Never Mind the Hosen, Here's Die Roten Rosen ''Never Mind the Hosen, Here's Die Roten Rosen'', sometimes ''Never Mind the Hosen, Here's Die Roten Rosen (aus Düsseldorf)'' is the first cover album of the German punk band Die Toten Hosen, released under the pseudonym Die Roten Rosen (The Re ...

''. It was released as a single from the album, sometimes considered a double a-side single with "Halbstark" (''Half-strong''; originally by Jankees) under the alias Die Roten Rosen. In their version, although the lyrics are identical to the original, the humorous tone is replaced with an aggressive punk tone, making the man come across as a stalker. The cover of the single is identical to the album cover, so the single may also be titled "Never Mind the Hosen, Here's Die Roten Rosen", which would rather make this a double a-side single, especially since "Halbstark" was later released on the best-of album ''

Reich & sexy ''Reich & sexy'' (''Rich & sexy'') (subtitled: ''Ihre 20!! grössten Erfolge'' 'Their 20!! biggest hits'' is the first greatest hits compilation by the German punk band Die Toten Hosen. The album is an apparent tribute to Johnny Thunders, as b ...

''.

Track listing

# "Im Wagen vor mir" − 3:28 # "Halbstark" − 2:26 {{authority control 1987 singles Die Toten Hosen songs 1977 songs Songs written by Hans Blum (musician)